asteroid

I ran across this image of the interstellar asteroid. It struck me that I recognize an artist’s impression as the actual representation of the object. Because we do not have an actual photo, an artist made something. And yet, to me, it IS the asteroid enough that when I see the impression photo, I think it is.

It started to bother me that my brain has become so tricked, but I think I am about to get over it. We do this all the time. When I think of a very generic term like cat, my current cat comes to mind. Even if I go for an animal I have never seen before in person, then I think of an image of one or something similar. Being visual creatures, images are how we think, so we need something like an impression to recognize it.

What’s six miles wide and can end civilization in an instant? An asteroid — and there are lots of them out there. With humor and great visuals, Phil Plait shows us all the ways asteroids can kill us (yipes), and what we must do to avoid them.

I saw a version of this commercial without the sneaking through the gate and most chase stuff. My first impression was, does humanity get so ignorant of the past that they are unaware of what populated the Earth 85 million years ago? After watching this version, it answered my question: yes.

Anyone who read or watched Jurassic Park or its sequels knows a Tyrannosaurus Rex eats a couple of humans for a midday snack. Maybe the idea is in 20 million years humanity is able to prevent themselves from getting wiped out by the asteroid? Seems to me if one was going to pick a time period to establish humanity, I would pick the Paleogene period when horses, bovine, and other creatures have developed and are prime for re-domestication. Mammals are much easier to tame into giving us the power to accomplish work.